John Turner

John Turner (7 June 1929-) was Prime Minister of Canada from 30 June to 17 September 1984, succeeding Pierre Trudeau and preceding Brian Mulroney.

Biography
John Turner was born in Richmond, London, England in 1929, and his family left for Canada in 1932. After studying at the Universities of British Columbia, Oxford, and Paris, he became a lawyer in Quebec in 1954 and was elected to the Canadian House of Commnos in 1962 for the Liberal Party of Canada. In 1968, he lost in a leadership bid to Pierre Trudeau, who subsequently appointed him Minister of Justice (1968-72) and of Finance (1972-5). In September 1975, he resigned to general surprise and withdrew from politics, but ran for the Liberal leadership in 1984, successfully beating Jean Chretien on 16 June. He was appointed Prime Minister on 30 June 1984, and immediately called a general election, in which his party was reduced to forty parliamentary seats by Brian Mulroney. He left office on 17 September 1984, but remained a relatively ineffective leader of a divided party until 1989.